Stuart Attwell didn't admit he made a mistake in awarding Liverpool a penalty in their win over Fulham, despite claims to the contrary from Tom Cairney, it has been reported.
Fulham captain Cariney said in an interview following his side's 1-0 defeat at Anfield on Wednesday that referee Attwell told one of his team-mates that he made a mistake in awarding a first-half penalty after Darwin Nunez was brought down in the box by Issa Diop.
Mohamed Salah netted the resulting spot-kick, which proved to be the only goal of the game as Liverpool extended their winning run to five games.
"I asked [the referee] on the pitch to check it," claimed Cairney. "He said they checked it. It's frustrating because it goes to other people to make the correct decision.
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"He said they checked it, but he said second half to one of our players that it wasn’t a penalty, so it’s frustrating because it goes to other people to make the correct decision.
"Issa Diop hasn’t touched him, Nunez has taken another step and then gone over, and then you lose to something like that at Anfield which is frustrating when we’re trying to climb as high as we can."
ESPN FC editor Dale Johnson has since tweeted to say the comments aren't true, while suggesting the claim made by the Fulham skipper wasn't on the same level as Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, who has been charged by the FA after comments he made about referee Paul Tierney following the dramatic 4-3 home win over Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday.
"I've checked this, and it definitely isn't true what Tom Cairney said to Fulham TV," Johnson said in a tweet.
"Stuart Attwell didn't tell another Fulham player in the second half he didn't think it was a pen. Remember, it's all recorded.
"It's possible the other Fulham player (who wasn't named by Cairney) may perhaps have misheard something in conversation with the referee, rather than simply making this up. But there's nothing there as was alleged.
"And to be clear, this isn't on the same level as what Jurgen Klopp said about Paul Tierney. Looking forward to the written reasons coming out for this one, showing what PT actually said. Tom Cairney won't get any FA charge for this."
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